Police forces sometimes require data from a smartphone or a computer to continue the line of research for different reasons. In recent years we have seen how companies like Apple refused to directly unlock their devices to large security bodies such as the FBI or the CIA, claiming that the privacy of users is above all else.
After these events, many companies set out to find a legal way to unlock devices. Cellebrite is a security company that has claimed that have the necessary technology to unlock an iPhone 6 and older devices, among which are the iPhone 4S / 5 / 5C / 5S / 6/6 Plus.
The legal unlocking of iPhones: a big step taken by Cellebrite
You may not remember, but Cellebrite was the company that was helping the FBI unlock the iPhone of the San Bernardino terrorist. A case that was under discussion for more than two months. Since then, Cellebrite has worked hard to carry out the unlock process legally and, as advertised Shahar Tal, Director of Forensic Investigation, On twitter:
Cellebrite's CAIS now supports lawful unlocking and evidence extraction of iPhone 4S / 5 / 5C / 5S / 6/6 + devices (via our in-house service only).
- Shahar Tal (@jifa) February 22th 2017
Of course, all these processes are carried out at the company's headquarters since the strategies and processes to develop this unlocking are very complex and cannot be done by everyone at home. It requires machinery that only companies like Cellebrite have at their disposal.
The company, according to the latest drafts and affected, charges more than $ 200.000 to subscribe to the data extraction service annually. On the other hand, Cellebrite charges $ 1.500 to unlock an individual phone such as our own iPhone (although it would not make much sense). As reported from MacRumors, the data that can be extracted not only has to do with the user interface but also with certain data stored in applications such as Facebook or Google Chrome.
We cannot deny that this step taken by Cellebrite is a check on Apple, who defended that user privacy is far above interests. Perhaps not for long there will be a confrontation between the Big Apple and companies that try to circumvent the security of iPhones.